Museums and Libraries
IMLS Community Catalyst Initiative
Supporting libraries and museums to spark community-led change.
How can libraries and museums catalyze positive, community-driven change?
Through the Community Catalyst Initiative, the ABCD Institute and DePaul University collaborated with libraries and museums across the country to explore this question in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). From the initiative’s launch in late 2017 until September 2021, ABCD consultants supported and learned alongside 24 on-the-ground recipients of IMLS grant funding around the unique opportunities and challenges facing libraries, museums, and their communities as they mobilize local assets and resident-led solutions.
Below are learnings, materials and resources that have emerged from this collaboration.
Explore tools IMLS Catalyst teams are using in their work, along with stories of how grantees used them and what they learned.
The following webinars held with IMLS Catalyst Grantee teams explore various tools and practices for dynamically catalyzing the assets, talents, and resources within communities with a focus on resident control and leadership.
STORIES FROM THE GROUND
Read and watch stories of change emerging from the work of IMLS Catalyst library and museum teams across the US engaging more authentically with their community members in ways that grow local power and connectivity.
New Releases
New Grants to Libraries, Museums, and Partners Fund Sustainable Community Development Work (IMLS, 2018)
Open Grant Opportunity Encourages Community Development Approaches (IMLS, 2018)
Emory University's Rose Library awarded archival grant to foster collaborative AIDS education (Emory University, 2017)
Libraries Take Key Roles in Community Catalyst Projects (Library Journal, 2017)
IMLS Awards $1.6 Million in Community Catalyst Grants (IMLS, 2017)
Grant Opportunity Encourages Community Development Approaches for Libraries, Archives and Museums (IMLS, 2017)
Report Describes New Frameworks for Museums and Libraries to Strengthen Community Involvement (IMLS, 2017)
For more information:
Contact
April Doner
Project Director, Community Catalyst Evaluation
ABCD Institute